Alcohol & violence: not as bad as you might think

Saturday night in West Street is quite a sight. It is thronged with people out for a good time and, as the night wears on, many of them become the worse for [alcoholic] wear. But the incidence of violence, often in the past associated with drink, is not what you would imagine.

Data from Cardiff University makes it clear that, over the past quarter of a century since the turn of the millennium, the number of people seeking treatment in hospital for violence-related injuries has fallen by nearly three-quarters from 450,000 to 150,000. The figures were collected from 189 A&E departments across the country.

And to link this to weekend drinking, the researchers looked at the number of men seeking treatment on Sunday for injuries that happened the night before. That has declined by more than half over the past decade. Statistics for women showed a 52% decline.

Fewer people drinking is likely to be a contributor [especially amongst men aged 18 to 24]. But preventative policing [like Brighton’s Operation Marble at weekends] has coincided with more temperate youth.